Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
3 min of reading 
0 comments 
Moved By Missing Him, Boy Travels Thousands Of Kilometers With His Father, Faces Challenges, Raises Donations And Turns Journey Into A Gesture Of Love, Overcoming And Solidarity
In 2020, a case caught the attention. If it’s true that grandparents will do anything for their grandchildren, the story of British boy Romeo Cox, then 11 years old, shows that love can also go in the opposite direction.
Living with his family in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, the boy decided to walk across the borders of Italy, Switzerland, France, and England just to give his grandmother Rosemary, 77, a hug. She lives in the small historic town of Witney, Oxfordshire, England.
The journey, which seems straight out of an adventure book, was born from months of longing and turned into an experience of family connection, overcoming, and empathy.
-
Children from the 1980s and 1990s who spent hours playing in the street until dark naturally developed spatial intelligence, which today has become the subject of expensive courses, cognitive training, and modern methods of child and adult learning.
-
Without bombs, without electricity, and without drilling the ground, villages in southwestern Morocco have discovered how to extract water directly from the air using only polymer nets, wind, and the humidity of the Atlantic amidst the advancing desert.
-
Son of a Brazilian, a 20-year-old young man defies extreme pressure, wins the world rodeo championship, and takes home a million-dollar prize of nearly R$ 5 million.
-
The largest freshwater aquarium in the world is in Brazil, impressing with 5 million liters, 380 species, and will host a national congress that brings together specialists in biodiversity, animal conservation, and unprecedented research with more than 100 species bred in captivity.
A Walk Driven By Longing
Accompanied by his father, Phil, then 46 years old, Romeo began the crossing on June 20. The route of 2,800 km was completed on September 21, when the two arrived in London.
However, the meeting with Rosemary only happened on October 4, as father and son had to fulfill a 14-day quarantine before the long-awaited hug.
The distance between grandson and grandmother began to grow the previous year, when Romeo’s parents moved from England to Italy.
With the coronavirus pandemic, no visits could be made since then. The walk arose, therefore, as a direct response to this emotional void.
A Walking Challenge That Turned Into A Charitable Cause
The idea, according to the family, seemed crazy at first. Still, Phil decided to embrace the adventure because he saw it as a chance to spend more time with his son.
In addition, the duo took advantage of the walk to raise funds for organizations supporting refugees.
According to the British website Mirror, the fundraising yielded about R$ 80,000 and was inspired by a friend of Romeo’s, Randolph, who migrated from Ghana to Italy.
“He walked even further, but without food, without water, and with fear,” the boy said, emphasizing the desire to turn his own experience into something greater.
“We Never Thought Of Giving Up”
In an interview with The Sun, Romeo reported that the anxiety to see his grandmother increased with each day of the journey. Even in the face of difficulties, the desire to keep going remained intact.
“We got lost a few times. We slept under a wasp’s nest, which wasn’t a good idea, and we ended up with bloody feet, but we never thought of giving up,” he stated.
In a conversation with the Daily Mail, the boy described the moment of their reunion. “As we got closer to Grandma’s house, I started running and left my dad behind. We had the best hug ever, I really missed her.”
Rosemary, who spent the lockdown alone, said she was emotional and proud. At first, she didn’t even believe the extent of the journey.
For the grandmother, seeing her grandson after so long was special and unforgettable.
In addition to the long walk, father and son shared small everyday moments throughout the journey, strengthening bonds that, according to them, became even stronger during the crossing.
With information from Gazeta do Povo.
-
-
-
3 people reacted to this.